GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Hershey at Lehigh Valley 10/12/19

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-1-0) host rival Hershey Bears (0-1-1) in another edition of rivalry weekend Saturday night at the PPL Center.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes in warmup:

Greg Carey - Cal O'Reilly - Joel Farabee Matthew Strome - Morgan Frost - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Kyle Criscuolo - German Rubtsov - Maksim Sushko Isaac Ratcliffe - Mikhail Vorobyev - Kurtis Gabriel

T.J. Brennan - Phil Myers Chris Bigras - Mark Friedman Tyler Wotherspoon - Nate Prosser

J-F Berube - Alex Lyon

Scratches: James de Haas, Andy Andreoff (veteran), Gerry Fitzgerald, David Kase (inj) and Reece Willcox

GAME STORY

1st Period

It was an eventful, back-and-forth opening 20 minutes tonight at the PPL Center.

The Phantoms came out playing with purpose, and they were rewarded 3:26 into the contest with the game's opening goal after a smart decision by Maksim Sushko to head to the net with the puck on Phil Myers' stick at the right point. Myers flung one to the net, and Sushko was in perfect position to get a piece of it and re-direct it past Bears' goaltender Vitek Vanecek for his first career pro goal.

It seemed like the Phantoms were about to take control of the game early when Matt Moulson was whistled for holding shortly after Sushko's goal put Lehigh Valley in front 1-0.

Instead, an errant pass in the offensive zone on the ensuing power play saw Beck Malenstyn glide past T.J. Brennan on his way to a backhander that eluded J-F Berube. Just like that, it was even again.

Later in the period, German Rubtsov made a strong play along the boards in the neutral zone - allowing Kyle Criscuolo to jump on a loose puck and speed down the right wing. Criscuolo pulled up and spotted Joel Farabee cutting to the middle, sending a perfect pass for a quick release by Farabee - his second goal in as many nights - to put the Phantoms back in front by a 2-1 margin.

Again, it looked like Lehigh Valley was about to take control of the game. And again, Hershey found a way to tie the game back up.

On a power play, the Bears' new additions from NHL Washington - Travis Boyd and Christian Djoos - connected on a pretty passing play that ended up with a third pass to the net front that Mike Sgarbossa was able to put past Berube to make it a 2-2 game with 3:20 left before the first intermission to send the two teams to the locker rooms all tied up.

2nd Period

There weren't any goals scored in the middle frame, but that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of excitement on the ice.

A penalty-filled affair saw the two teams trade power plays in the opening half of the period, and also featured the Phantoms' first fight of the season.

A center-ice scuffle broke out after a whistle, and on the next face-off the two in the middle of it decided to settle things by dropping their gloves. Kurtis Gabriel made quick work of Liam O'Brien, who appeared to be hanging on for a ride. After Gabriel scored the takedown and the fight was over, O'Brien tried to charge at Gabriel near the penalty boxes.

The intensity certainly picked up in the middle frame, and some timely saves from Berube (Phantoms) and Vanecek (Bears) kept the game knotted at 2-2 heading to the third.

3rd Period

The Phantoms regained the one goal lead early in the third period after some hard work from Kurtis Gabriel set up Isaac Ratcliffe for a tap-in atop the crease.

Gabriel went hard to the net after getting a puck from Mikhail Vorobyev, and although he was hooked as he attempted to shoot the puck went into the crease where Ratcliffe was parked and the big-bodied forward was able to muscle one home to put the Phantoms ahead 3-2.

Still, the Bears refused to go away quietly - getting yet another game tying goal to keep the game deadlocked and force overtime.

Overtime

Both teams traded chances in the 3-on-3 period, with each team credited with four shots apiece.

It came down to the final seconds, and it was Hershey scoring with exactly one second left to steal the extra standings point in a 4-3 decision.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

3:26: LV - Sushko (1) - Myers, Rubtsov 4:55: HER - (PP) Moulson, minor (holding) 5:35: HER - SHG Malenstyn (1) - unassisted 6:10: HER - (PP) Williams, minor (interference) 9:28: LV - (PP) Aube-Kubel, minor (high-sticking) 13:03: LV - Farabee (2) - Criscuolo 15:57: LV - (PP) Carey, minor (slashing) 16:40: HER - PPG Sgarbossa (2) - Djoos, Boyd

2nd Period

3:11: HER - (PP) Fehervary, minor (slashing) 6:56: LV - (PP) Farabee, minor (slashing) 8:57: LV - (PP) Prosser, minor (delay of game) 11:25: LV - Gabriel, major (fighting) 11:25: HER - O'Brien, major (fighting)

3rd Period

3:54: LV - Ratcliffe (1) - Gabriel, Vorobyev 7:21: LV - (PP) Prosser, minor (tripping) 11:57: HER - Boyd (1) - Moulson, Sgarbossa

Overtime

3:40: LV - (PP) Bigras, minor (tripping) 4:59: HER - PPG Boyd (2) - Djoos, Sgarbossa

BOXSCORE

Hershey  2 - 0 - 1 - 1 = 4 Lehigh Valley  2 - 0 - 1 - 0 = 3

Shots

Hershey  13 - 9 - 6 - 4 = 32 Lehigh Valley  8 - 9 - 5 - 4 = 26

Goalies

HER: Vitek Vanecek (23 saves - 26 shots) LV: J-F Berube (28 saves - 32 shots)

Power Play

HER: 2-for-6 LV: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

HER: 3-for-3 LV: 4-for-6